Randy Heath Shelton

Randy Heath Shelton was born on May 15, 1966, in Fresno, California, and was the youngest of Tommie and Shirley Shelton's four children. He spent his early childhood living with his family in a one-bedroom log cabin at the corner of Broadway and Second Street in Cabool, Missouri. The family then bought and moved to a small farm south of town where they raised registered Yorkshire hogs for several years. Randy was not much for sitting behind a desk, so at a very young age, he left formal schooling and started his own bait and tackle shop in Cabool, selling fishing supplies to the locals inside his mother’s income tax office.

After his three older siblings grew up, married, and moved out on their own, Randy chose to stay on the family farm, working alongside his father. He was also working full-time at SRC in Willow Springs until it closed, then drove to Springfield and back every day for years, working at SRC/ReGen in motor remanufacturing as a welder. When his father's health started failing and he needed a kidney transplant, Randy gladly offered and donated “pee wee”. This gift increased Tommie’s life and quality of life for several years. After his father passed, Randy left his employment at ReGen, and drove a school bus for Cabool schools for several years so he could be home to work on the farm and to help his mother. Randy loved driving the school bus and would often laugh and tell stories about things that happened during those trips, like when he accidentally put gasoline in the diesel bus while he was hauling a load of students to St. Louis. Unfazed, and Randy, being Randy, located and paid for a private chauffeured limo party bus to finish getting the students to their appointed destination on time. Randy also loved his hometown of Cabool and was always supporting the students and local organizations. He even donned a Santa suit a few times (no stuffing needed) just to bring smiles to children's faces. But Randy was happiest working on the farm and helping his mother around the house. Just last May he was bucking hay bales and mowing the yard.

Everyone has heard that “Cancer is Cruel,” but it was never crueler to anyone than it was to Randy. In June, he thought he had developed a bad ulcer and finally agreed to go to the doctor. He was diagnosed with two types of cancer, one in his esophagus and another in his stomach. The big man, with a bigger heart, went from 255 pounds to 185 pounds in three short months. He fought; he fought so hard and went through so much just so he could get back to the farm and help take care of his mother. That was what he told everyone; that was his only goal. But the cancer had other ideas, and Randy lost his fight on September 26, 2026, at the home of his sister and brother-in-law in Ozark, Missouri.

Randy never met a stranger, always had a big smile on his face, a joke to crack, and a laugh that was contagious. He would never ask for help but was always available to help anyone who needed it.

Randy is survived by his mother, Shirley Shelton of Cabool, Missouri; his siblings, Tommie Shelton, Jr., of Odessa, Texas, Betty Shelton-Davis and spouse, Dale Davis, of Ozark, Missouri, and Hershel Shelton and spouse, Terry Shelton, of Cabool, Missouri; a special great-niece, Raeah Shelton of Cabool, who grew up spending countless hours fishing in the farm ponds with her Uncle Randy, as well as multiple other special nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins that all held a place in his heart. To know Randy was to love Randy, and he was loved dearly and will be missed by many.